Koe aan het water: animals by a stream, Noorden

Many times Weissenbruch travelled to the area of Nieuwkoop and Noorden. The works he created here can be seen as some of the best of his oeuvre. His enthusiasm for the landscape depicted, the wonderfully balanced compositions and the marvellous play of light in these works are sublime. The present painting is an outstanding example of his mature painterly style. Weissenbruch has succeeded in creating a well thought out composition using a subtle range of colours, adding drama by allowing the trees to be silhouetted against the robust, overcast sky. In 1891 Weissenbruch made a watercolour with a similar composition, which shows the same farm near the village of Noorden, where Weissenbruch is known to have worked (see: Willem Laanstra, Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch 1824-1903, Amsterdam 1992, cat.no. 1891-2, p.57, ill., as: Landschap bij Noorden). It is likely that the present work is made in that same year.